Conservative cleric, Haddi Ghaffari, turns on Khamenei

Haddi Ghaffari, a conservative cleric in Iran, has made a bold frontal assault on Ayatollah Khamenei. If enough of the clerical establishment in Iran speaks out like this it will seriously undermine Khamenei’s rule. The significance of this cannot be understated.

Haddi Ghaffari, a former minister under Ayatollah Khomeni, gave a speech Monday directly addressing the Supreme Leader and criticizing him for his behavior since the election and for his support of Ahmadinejad. Ghaffari played a major role in the creation of Hezbollah — he is no reformist by any stretch of the imagination — and his frontal assault on Khamenei would have been extremely taboo prior to the election.

“Khamenei, your recent actions and behavior has brought shame to us clerics. Our image in the streets and bazaars has been tarnished as everyone is placing us in the same category as Ahmadinejad.”

“Khamenei, you are wrong, your actions are wrong. I believe in the velayat e fagih more than you.”

“I’m not preaching these messages so that I could be associated with the West. I loathe the West and will fight to the last drop of my blood before I or my land succumbs to the West. On the contrary, I’m preaching these messages on the count that the respect for our profession is gone.”

“Young people are not praying anymore, whose fault is that? It is your fault Mr. Khamenei, it’s your fault for placing us in the same line as that lunatic Ahmadinejad.”

“Ahmadinejad is nobody, you should congregate with us instead of him.”